One of the very most important pieces of equipment that will affect the sound of your live band is your mixing console. I recently upgraded to the Mackie 2404-VLZ3 24-channel mixer. This mixer features 24 channels with 20 of those channels being XDR2 microphone channels and 4 channels being grouped on two faders as stereo channels. The mixer also features two built-in effects units that feature 24 separate effect presets. The mixer also features 8 separate compressors.

One feature that really sold me on this mixer was the built-in compression. There are four compressors located on channels 17-20 which is great for adding compression to individual instruments like the kick drum or bass guitar. There are four more compressors located on the four sub-group channels. Having the compressors located on the four sub-group channels is great for adding overall compression to the instruments or vocals. I route my vocal mix to sub-groups 1 and 2 and then add compression on those faders. I do the same with my instrument mix on sub-groups 3 and 4. I love the compression feature of this mixer!

Another feature that I really love on this mixer are the built-in effect units. I am able to use combinations of delay, reverb and chorus to my vocal mixes. I like having the tap tempo ability which makes it easy to synchronize the delay setting to the beat of the song. I often have my effects units set so that one unit provides reverb and the other unit provides vocal doubling. The mixer allows you to route the effect outputs to channels 20 through 24 giving you the ability to mix the stereo effects output through the compressors on the sub-groups. You can also simply send the effects output directly to the main mix.

The Mackie 2404-VLZ3 also features a USB output. The USB output sends a 24-bit digital stream to your computer with several routing options. You can send the four sub-group channels simultaneously to allow for 4-track recording on your DAW. You can also send the main L/R mix and AUX 5-6 feeds simultaneously. This gives you some great options for live recording or for multi-tracking in your studio. You can also use the USB as a return from your computer for mixing in signals from your computer.

I also really like all of the output options on the mixer. You can choose either XLR outputs or 1/4″ outputs to send to your amplifier. You have a mono main output as well that you can use to send a feed to your sub-woofer amp or to a mono house mix and it has it’s own output level knob on the back of the mixer. I do wish there was an XLR monitor mix output but the mixer does have a pair of 1/4″ monitor outputs.

I have been extremely happy with my Mackie 2404-VLZ3 mixer and it has made a tremendous difference in my band’s live sound. The compressors have really smoothed out our mix and having the extra effects unit has given our vocal mixes new depth. We’ve made some pretty sweet live recordings using the USB output into a laptop as well. Overall I couldn’t be happier with my 2404-VLZ3.

After last year’s Grammy Awards I said I wasn’t going to watch it anymore. It’s long, it’s tedious and the speeches are almost universally boring. But it’s those moments when an artist really nails a live performance or when something truly meaningful is said during an acceptance speech that brought me back to the grammies once again this year. I always like to see if I can decide if a performance is live or if it’s just a fancy lip-synch dance number. So I watched the show hoping for an amazing performance or even a great joke or memorable acceptance speech. The show was broadcast on February 10, 2013 and this is how the whole night went down.

This year’s awards were hosted by LL Cool J and kicked off with a performance by none other than Taylor Swift. I guess they wanted an entire show to recover from a bad performance if need be. Her performance of We Are Never Getting Back Together was surprisingly good. She was only flat on a couple of high notes but she still sang much better than in years past and to her credit, it was live. LL Cool J seemed suitably impressed by his pal T Swizzle although the audience applause was less than stellar.

Ed Sheeran and Elton John performed a song called The A Team and it was a really nice performance on piano and acoustic guitar. The mix was great as was the singing.

Best Pop Solo Performance Grammy went to Adele for Set Fire To The Rain (Live). Adele looked smashing in her Mary Poppins dress.

Next up was Fun. who were nominated for several awards. They performed their song Carry On and it was definitely a live performance. The song sounded notably different live than on the album but I’m giving the band kudos for not using pitch correction live. The performance was good although the lead singer hit a few notes flat. It’s understandable because the melody goes everywhere on this song and the album is extremely pitch corrected. I thought this performance was good and the fact that they used water raining down on all the electronic instruments is a testament to the durability of today’s musical instrument construction.

This was the country section of the show. Bonnie Raitt made an appearance.

Miranda Lambert and Dierks Bentley performed a very unremarkable country song to a bad mix. Miranda looked pretty hot in that dress though.

Miguel and Wiz Khalifa performed a nice little R&B song to lead up to the best country solo performance award.

Best Country Solo Performance award went to Carrie Underwood for the song Blown Away. Carrie thanked a lot of people but most importantly, she thanked the Lord.

Song of the Year award went to Fun. for their song We Are Young (woo-hoo! I called this one) This song deserved it as it was the best of the bunch. They also thanked a lot of people and then the “get the hell off the stage” music played.

Then Johnny Depp drunkenly introduced Mumford & Sons. Mumford & Sons then promptly kicked ass playing their song I Will Wait. Sadly they left their trucker hats and tuxedos home this year. These guys sound great live but I do prefer their “classy look” of the trucker hats and tuxedos. I would have liked to hear their horn section a little better. I am surprised that Mumford looks so young because his sons look about the same age as him.

Ellen Degeneres seemed to be making Beyonce very uncomfortable by being way too far into her personal space. Justin Timberlake performed and it was the return of the man/boy. He’s a weak singer, a poor dancer and he’s not even that good looking. Luckily Jay Z rescued this performance. Still, I skipped a lot of it.

Best Urban Contemporary Album award went to Frank Ocean for Channel Orange.

Best Rock Performance award went to The Black Keys for Lonely Boy which was well deserved. They gave an excellent short speech as well. Why was it excellent? Because it was short and I have no idea what they said.

Alicia Keys then performed with Maroon 5 doing the songs Girl On Fire and Daylight. Adam Levine sang extremely well and Maroon 5 played flawlessly. Alicia Keys was simply perfect as well even while playing the drums. This performance was one of the highlights of the evening and definitely worth watching again on YouTube.

Best Pop Vocal Album award went to Kelly Clarkson for her album Stronger. This was the first miss of the night as Some Nights by Fun., Ceremonials by Florence & The Machine and Overexposed by Maroon 5 are all better albums. Kelly Clarkson gave a really funny acceptance speech that was filled with wide-eyed fan-girl statements.

LL Cool J’s relentless Twitter references got really old by the middle of the show.

Rihanna was joined by Mikky Ekko for a pretty nice live performance. It was well mixed and smooth and I have no idea what the song was called.

Best Rap/Sung Award went to Jay-Z, Kanye West, Frank Ocean & The-Dream for No Church In The Wild. Yes the Grammies love Jay-Z. Jay-Z did crack a good one saying “I would like to thank the swap meet for his hat” in reference to The-Dream’s hat.

The Black Keys performed with Night Tripper, Dr. John and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. It was quite a performance of the Black Keys song Lonely Boy. It was well mixed and it really, really rocked. Dr. John looked especially bitching in his Mountain Man Rendezvous outfit.

Kelly Clarkson then sang a really nice tribute to Patty Page and Carol King. Kelly has an amazing voice and she really brings the goods live. She totally nailed The Tennessee Waltz and Natural Woman.

Best Country Album award went to Zac Brown Band for Uncaged.

Sting, Ziggy Marley and Bruno Mars perform live.

Bruno Mars then took the stage performing Locked Out Of Heaven. Bruno can really sing and he pulls it off live. He’s got a great look and great dance moves to go along with his great songs. Bruno is a real artist. He was joined onstage by Sting who played an excellent bass line and sang a rocking duet with Bruno on Locked Out Of Heaven. Sting then took over singing Walking On The Moon with Bruno singing and excellent harmony with Sting. Rihanna and Ziggy Marley then joined Sting and Bruno onstage to sing a tribute to Bob Marley. Damien Marley then joined the party to bring things up another notch. The whole performance was off-the-charts awesome!

The Lumineers then performed their hit Ho-Hey. The performed live and it sounded simply excellent.

Jack White then performed with an all-female band that really brought the goods. They sounded and looked great. He then switched to an all-male backing band and rocked a lot harder although the sound took a bit of a dive on this part of his performance. I preferred the ladies although I did like the aggressive performance he did with the guys. I have no idea what the names of the songs were.

Best New Artist Award went to Fun. who released the excellent album Some Nights. I called this award as well and Fun. truly deserved it. BTW, Katy Perry presented this award and she was smoking hot in her green dress.

Hunter Hayes then performed a song on the piano but the show was already dragging on too long so I skipped it.

Carrie Underwood then took the stage looking good in her prom formal. Halfway through her performance Carrie’s prom formal turned out to actually be a movie screen! It was sort of a boring movie but the imagery was beautiful. Carries vocal performance was strong but the song was weak.

Record of the Year award went to Gotye for the song Somebody That I Used To Know. Prince presented this award looking extremely cool and stating “I Love This Song”. Gotye sincerely complimented Prince for inspiring him to make music and it was nice to see.

Next up was a nice jazz tribute by Chick Corea , Stanley Clarke and Kenny Garrett to Dave Brubeck with a performance of his song Take 5. It was truly excellent.

I was very excited to hear about the new Grammy Music Educator Award which will go to a music educator. This is an amazing new award and long overdue.

Elton John headed up a tribute to all the great artists who have passed in the last year. Mavis Staples and Zac Brown sang their hearts out on Take A Load Off along with Mumford & Sons and Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes. It was a truly great performance.

Juanes then sang the Elton John hit Your Song. The show was too long, so I skipped it.

Frank Ocean then ran up a highway to sing and play piano while running away from a mob of zombies. The song was talking about Forrest Gump and how powerful Forrest Gump is. Luckily Frank had a sweatband on to manage the sweat while he just ran, and ran, and ran, and ran. Just like Forrest Gump did in that fictional movie. I do have to say that to be able to whistle and run like that is really amazing.

Album of the Year award went to Mumford & Sons for Babel. This is the second Grammy miss as this is an excellent album but I feel that Fun.’s album Some Nights is a bit stronger.

The show closed with a performance by LL Cool J, Chuck D, Z Trip, Tom Morello and Travis Barker. LL Cool J really rapped with a lot of passion as usual but I mainly just enjoyed watching Travis Barker’s supreme drumming skills. The Beastie Boys tribute was nice and it was good to hear a shout out to the fallen Beastie Boy Adam Yauch.

Well the 55th annual Grammy Awards were about 2 hours too long and the awards were really accurate. I enjoyed it but I really don’t think I’m going to watch it again next year.
[phpbay]55th Grammy Awards, 6[/phpbay]

The Grammy awards will be broadcast on February 10, 2013. These are the nominees in the most popular categories for the 55th annual Grammy awards.

Record of the Year

Lonely Boy – The Black Keys

Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You) – Kelly Clarkson

We Are Young – Fun. featuring Janelle Monae

Somebody That I Used To Know – Gotye featuring Kimbra

Thinkin Bout You – Frank Ocean

We Are Never Getting Back Together – Taylor Swift

Album of the Year

El Camino – The Black Keys

Some Nights – Fun.

Babel – Mumford & Sons

Channel Orange – Frank Ocean

Blunderbuss – Jack White

Best New Artist

Alabama Shakes

Fun.

Hunter Hayes

The Lumineers

Frank Ocean

So there you have it, the nominees in the categories that most people tune in to see. So here are my predictions in these categories.

Record of the Year – Winner- Fun. – We Are Young

Album of the Year – Winner – Fun. – Some Nights

Song of the Year – Winner – Fun. – We Are Young

Best New Artist – Winner – Fun.

That’s right, I’m predicting a sweep by the band Fun.. Now I’ll probably be wrong but I feel out of all the nominees in these categories that Fun. has the best song and album. So tune in on February 10th and let’s see who wins!
[phpbay]Grammy Awards, 6[/phpbay]

I have been using the Shure SE115 sound isolating earphones in my live band and at the gym for about 3 years now. They have been great headphones and I’ve really loved them. I finally wore through the cord where it passes over my ears and it’s impossible to only replace the cord in that area on the SE115’s. So I decided to purchase the new Shure SE215 sound isolating earphones which have replaced the SE115 product. I was so happy with the SE115’s that I felt confident that the SE215’s could easily replace them.

The Shure SE215 is basically the same single dynamic micro-driver speaker design that the SE115 employed. The cable is 64″ long which is plenty of length for stage use but a little long for gym use. They also come with a fit kit that has various tips to use when fitting the earbuds to your ear. A case is also included for the earphones.The SE215 earphones have one very nice upgrade over the SE115 design. It is now possible to replace the entire headphone cord from the earbuds back. The earbuds unplug directly from the cable which makes it very easy to replace a worn out cable. This design could have saved my beloved SE115.

The sound quality of the SE215 is very good for a single driver earbud. It has very good bass and punchy mid-range tones. The high frequencies tend to get a little bit brittle especially if you are listening to music with a lot of bass. The sound quality leans toward good bass reproduction over high frequency clarity. I feel like that’s a fair trade-off for a single driver earbud.

There are a few things I really don’t like about the SE-215 earphones. I am very unhappy with the way these earbuds fit in my ear. The SE-115 earphones fit very deep into my ear canal which gave me a fantastic sound isolating seal. With this type of headphone the deeper you can get them into your ear the better the seal will be. A good seal means better sound isolation, much better bass and overall sound clarity.

The SE215’s just don’t go deep enough into the ear canal. I am constantly having to adjust them and press them into my ear. I have tried all the various size of foam and silicone tips and none of them seal out like the SE115’s did. The problem is the tube that comes from the earbud portion just doesn’t extend far enough into the ear. This has been my biggest disappointment with the SE215 earphones. For me it has been a deal killer because it’s just no fun to have to constantly fiddle with my earphones to keep them sealed and sounding good.

The bottom line is, if you want to sit still and listen to music the SE215 earphones will work just fine. But if you’re using them as personal monitors while singing or playing guitar they will work themselves out of your ear canal. You’ll have the same problem running with them or using them at the gym. My advice is to find a pair of SE115 earphones on eBay.
[phpbay]Shure SE115 headphones, 6[/phpbay]

]]>Writing and working on content for Live Musician Central has been an invaluable resource for me when it comes to connecting with other live musicians. I have had many e-mails and comments from readers regarding my posts as well as inquiries about my Fender Cyber-Twin SE sound patches. I’m fairly well known in Utah but I have been able to connect with musicians outside of Utah because of Live Musician Central. Today I would like to introduce our latest contributing author, Mr. Douglas White from Brick, New Jersey. I met Doug because of his interest in the Fender Cyber-Twin SE sound patches that I posted on Live Musician Central. I’m looking forward to having Doug contribute to Live Musician Central. For his first authored post Doug will tell you a little bit about himself and his career as a live performing musician. -Matt-

Douglas White Performing Live

Douglas White

Brick, New Jersey

Guitar PlayerHow long have you been playing?

I originally started playing when I was around 14 years old. I was young with a passion for music in the 70’s and I knew that the girls just loved a guy who played music. These were the two biggest drivers for me. My best friend, who lived three doors down from me, was a guitar player and was very good. He suggested that I take up playing and learning bass guitar so that we could get something going. We searched the music stores looking for a good deal and then trying to find a way to pay for it. From the time I was 12, I had a paper route. This is probably a foreign concept to many young people today, but back in the day, we would have the local newspaper to deliver to peoples’ homes to try and earn money. It wasn’t much by today’s standards, but back then it seemed like a lot.

I began playing bass, but quickly got bored, so I made the switch to playing guitar. My first guitar was an Alvarez acoustic that my mom bought for me. Eventually, I traded it for a Gibson electric. I don’t remember which model (I think it was an SG). I didn’t have an amp, so I devised a cable with adapters bought from Radio Shack to play it through my auxiliary input of my stereo. That was my first amp.

Sometime around the age of 18 or 19, my attention was drawn elsewhere with other interests and having to work long hours doing construction, so the guitar slowly became a passing memory. Let’s fast forward to the age of 36. I still had an acoustic that was given to me by a friend for helping him complete some work on his house. I had only occasionally picked it up to mess around, but that was few and far between. At 36, I had just been recently married with a baby on the way. Something struck me inside that I wanted to give my child everything that I could. Knowledge, love, passions for life etc… My passion for music and the want to play it returned. I took the acoustic to a local luthier and had a complete set up done. New strings, bridge pins, neck adjustment…the works! I started with getting back to the basics of chords and scales. This time, I wanted to do more than just play Rock & Roll. I wanted to know music inside and out. I didn’t want to just copy Aerosmith, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Who, and so many others. I wanted to know why it all worked the way that it did. Why do these chords work together? How do you choose what to play over that? Being an avid Blues fan, I began with my heroes’ heroes. Muddy Waters, The Three Kings (Albert, Freddie and B.B.), Howlin’ Wolf and many others.

I have now been back playing seriously for the last 11 years. (the original question finally answered, but I just had to tell that story)Why did you start playing music?

I have always had a passion for music. I grew up in a magical time for Rock and Roll. I was born in the early 60’s with five older brothers. Some of my earliest memories are of listening to Motown in my house. My brothers were buying the old 45’s and playing them constantly. My mother was a big Country & Western fan. She would constantly play Eddie Arnold, Lynne Anderson, Roy Clark and so many others. My family was not musical in the sense of playing instruments, but little did they know how what they were doing, influenced me so greatly.

What instruments do you play?

My primary interest and playing time is devoted to the guitar, both electric and acoustic. I also play bass guitar and piano. The piano is an instrument that I plan to spend a lot more time with in the near future. I just love that instrument. The piano makes some of the most beautiful sounds to my ears. I have also played saxophone for a period of time. I love the sax, but I struggled with the effort. I may return again for round two. I don’t like to give up.

How many bands have you played in?

Not counting my early days (we mostly jammed in a friends garage with some neighborhood kids), I have been in five bands over the last 11 years. Each one was either a little different from the other or vastly different. A few of those bands focused a lot on Classic Rock while two of them were much more modern in song selection. I have loved all of them. I do have to say that I do favor the Classic Rock more, probably because it is embedded in my mind, soul and blood since that is what I grew up with all of my life. The newer music such as Jet, Train, Alien Ant Farm and many others are very good and fun to play, but there is something about playing a Rolling Stones song in Open G, a Zep tune, a Beatles tune etc… that is just filled with magic for me.

Are you currently gigging?

I left my last band in September 2011. I do plan to return to a band and play out again, but I wanted to take some time away to learn more theory and other styles of music. Time to play is precious when you are older and work in a field that is completely outside of music, so you have to navigate your time carefully and follow your heart. Sometimes, that means taking a break from gigging and focusing on learning some new material, ideas, techniques etc… The cool thing about that is that when you do get back into a band, you are more polished, refined and skilled.

What was your biggest gig?

Most of the gigs that I have played have either been local pubs/bars, private parties and charity events. I was in a band that played for a great cause for children which drew a few thousand people. I am not sure that all of them were listening to us while we were playing, but it was nice to know that they were there. We received many praises when we were done. There were several bands on the schedule for that day.

What was your lamest gig?

This is the hardest thing to admit too, but we all have them where nothing goes right at a gig. The front of the house sound being poorly mixed, the drummer is drunk, the monitors are not working right and brain cramps (forgetting song changes). Aside from the drummer being drunk (although he could have been), all of these happened in one night with a band I was playing with at an outdoor private party. It wasn’t the entire gig since we fortunately got our act together for the all-important third set, but the first two were disastrous. The mix was the worst part of it all. I couldn’t hear the singer or the other guitar player at all. I only saw her lips moving (singer) and the other guitar player’s hand going up and down. The bass player was too low and the drummer was beating the drums like Hannibal Letcher. Dynamics were right out of the window. When this began at the onset of the first song, my nerves went straight to hell and my mind was too focused on what was wrong instead of just playing what is right. We always recorded every gig as well as rehearsals. I personally believe that there is no better tool in a musician’s arsenal then a recorder. It will never lie to you and you will always know exactly how you sound. Well needless to say, I would have given anything to destroy those recordings of that day, except for the third set. At least we left on a high note. Bud ump bum!
[phpbay]Fender American Stratocaster, 6[/phpbay]

Every year I watch the Academy Awards to see the musical performances of the songs nominated for Best Original Song. One thing I love about musical performances at the Oscar Awards is the fact that they are all live performances. The 2012 Oscars featured only two nominees for Best Original Song which was kind of a bummer because there were bound to be fewer musical performances.

The winner of Best Music (Original Score) was The Artist by Ludovic Bource. This was an interesting win because Ludovic Bource has no formal musical training. He is just a simple accordion player. So all you accordion players out there, keep writing movie music because you could one day beat out John Williams.

Now for the saddest news of the evening. There were no live musical performances of either of the songs nominated for Best Original Song. I think they could have at least had someone perform Man Or A Muppet but sadly they did not. Luckily I DVR’d the Oscars and was able to skip most of it searching for the musical segments. The good news is I was able to watch the 84th Annual Academy Awards in about 35 minutes this year!

The show wasn’t completely devoid of live music. The Oscar orchestra did play music during all commercial breaks and some of the music they played was most likely from the movies. But without any introduction of the musical pieces it was up to the audience to figure out what song was being played. Esperanza Spalding did do a beautiful live rendition of “What A Wonderful World” during the Memorium segment. It was beautifully mixed and Esperanza sang the song perfectly.
[phpbay]84th academy awards, 6[/phpbay]

My first live performance. It seemed like I should be much more nervous than I felt. I was so focused on getting the words right and singing in tune that I almost forgot that there were people sitting down listening to the band play. The first live performance felt like a regular band practice. It felt natural and not complicated. I was singing in on two songs and then I was done. As I stood before the microphone I could start to feel the uneasiness set in. The singing and the remembering of the words was no longer on the fore front of my mind. I was concerned about how I looked. Did it look natural? Or could you completely tell that I was new at this?

It’s too late…the music starts and I feel that electricity of the music again and I go into a trance. I start singing. It sounds almost identical from our practice the night before. My nerves calm now because I feel comfortable and continue to focus on the addiction being fed. It feels so good. The words are coming naturally and I’m singing great! It’s a duet and our voices are blending perfectly. It’s all going as planned I just have to hold on until the last measure. As I begin to sing the last few measures a smile forms across my face and I know it sounded great! The crowd loves it and I’m taking it all in one heartbeat at a time.

I realized something that night. The hairbrush works. It’s like I had been repeating a positive affirmation over and over again every time I sang into that hairbrush. I had imagined and actively practiced my way into a first time successful live performance. I wouldn’t call myself a natural yet, I still had a lot to learn and I went home praying that I would get that chance. Most addictions are cured through a lot of restraint, self-control and a withdrawal phase. I did not want to be restrained or withdrawn. A few weeks later I was given more and this time more songs to sing. I was doing it. I was becoming the live performer that I imagined myself to be. Our next gig was just two weeks away.
[phpbay]microphone hairbrush, 6[/phpbay]

I said I wasn’t going to watch the 54th Annual Grammy awards this year. I really hate the industry love-fest they have. But I love to hear how live bands and singers do on awards shows. It’s always fun to try and guess who’s lip-synching and who has the chops to pull it off live. So how did the performers fare at the 54th annual Grammy awards show? Let’s break it all down here.

The show took place on February 12, 2012 and opened with Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street band. Bruce looked excellent and he’s keeping himself in great shape. His voice was strong although maybe not as cutting as in the past. The band sounded great though. It was sad to see him without the great Clarence Clemons. Bruce did a live performance and it was a great way to start the show.

LL Cool J took the stage and gave a stirring tribute to Whitney Houston. He said a prayer live on television thanking Heavenly Father for sharing Whitney’s talent with us. It was followed by a clip of Whitney singing her song I Will Always Love You in a past Grammy performance. This brought the audience to standing ovation.

LL Cool J quickly got the crowd centered on the reason they were there and that was a celebration of music. He did a great shout out to all the great performers who would take the stage. Bruno Mars took the stage and really rocked the house. His performance was live and very energetic with James Brown style moves and music.

Bonnie Raitt and Alicia Keys followed with a killer tribute to Etta James. Their voices were rich and powerful and their playing was flawless.

Adele won her first Grammy of the night for Best Pop Solo Performance for her song Someone Like You.

Chris Brown took the stage and did a pitch corrected song and dance routine to his songs Turn Up The Music and Beautiful People. Shazam was able to recognize the song so it was a pretty canned performance. The dancing was pretty sweet though.

Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson sang Don’t You Wanna Stay. Kelly really nailed her part and totally saved the song. Their performance was live and Kelly was very strong.

The great Jack Black introduced the hard rockin’ Foo Fighters. The Foo Fighters obviously had far too much energy and rock power for the Grammy crowd inside the Staples Center. They performed their rock mega-hit “Walk” to a pumped crowd in a tent outside the Staples Center. That’s too bad for everyone that was inside because they missed one of the very best performances of the night. The song was live and perfectly played. This is one band that really brings the goods live.

The Foo Fighters was followed by the unusual pairing of Rihanna and Coldplay. Rihanna does have a lovely voice and her canned disco is great for dancing. Coldplay’s Chris Martin sang with Rihanna and his voice was noticeably weaker than Rihanna’s. Luckily the rest of the band rescued Chris and they pulled off a great rendition of their song Paradise. The performance was live and although it lacked the energy of the Foo Fighters it was well played. I did like how the glow sticks that were passed out to the audience matched the stage lighting on this song.

The Grammy for Best Rock Performance went to “Walk” by the Foo Fighters. I must say, well called by the Grammy panel. Dave Grohl gave a perfect speech about how music should be played from the heart and the head. He also said that music shouldn’t be perfect but played from the heart on real instruments. Amen Dave, amen.

This was followed by the Beach Boys giving their first ever Grammy performance. They were teamed with Maroon 5 who sang Surfer Girl. They were followed by Foster The People playing Wouldn’t It Be Nice. It was a very solid performance and totally live.

Then the Beach Boys took the stage and tore through Good Vibrations with Maroon 5 and Foster The People. They’re old but they can still play and sing very well. It was really cool to see Brian Wilson playing and singing live.

Stevie Wonder introduced the great Paul McCartney by playing John Lennon’s harmonica solo from the Beatles hit Love Me Do. It was awesome! Paul was joined by Diana Krall and Joe Walsh (as well as a full orchestra) performing his new song Valentines Day. It was really beautiful and Paul sounded better singing the song live than he does on the new album. Joe Walsh played a really soulful guitar solo on this song.

Chirs Brown, the least R&B sounding of the bunch, won the Grammy for best R&B Album.

The Civil Wars performed took the stage and thanked “that promising young kid from Liverpool” for opening the show for them. It was pretty funny then they really rocked out a live song that was very soulful.

Taylor Swift followed up with an out-of-tune performance of a banjo song. Another year of practice has not helped her voice much. To her credit, it was live.

The Grammy for Song Of The Year went to Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth for Rolling In The Deep. It was very well deserved in my opinion.

Katy Perry In Her Skin Tight Bodysuit

Katy Perry’s bodysuit was so tight she had to be lifted onstage. She did a great transition between songs by disappearing from the stage and appearing suspended in a glass cage above the stage. She smashed the glass and gave a great live performance. Her singing wasn’t perfect but she had great energy.

Adele took the stage to perform Rolling In The Deep. Her voice sounds like it has healed perfectly from surgery. She looked great and she sounded excellent. The performance was live and she sang with feeling and soul. This was truly Adele’s night at the 54th Grammy Awards.

The band Perry did a pretty sweet tribute to Glen Campbell. Glen himself came onstage and sang Rhinestone Cowboy and I must say he totally nailed it. It was nice to see good old, really old Glen. Luckily Glen’s dentures stayed in and he finished his performance without breaking a hip. He left the stage asking “Where do I go?” To the after party Glen, to the after-party.

Tony Bennett sang a lovely little duet with Carrie Underwood on the song It Had To Be You. Tony’s getting old too but he’s got pretty good style. I think he was hanging with Glen at the after-party.

The Grammy for Best New Artist went to Bon Iver. They beat out some pretty stiff competition from The Band Perry.

Jennifer Hudson did a lovely tribute to Whitney Houston. It’s good to know we have another great singer ready to take Whitney’s place.

David Guetta spun some great loops for Chris Brown to sing to. I do have to say that it was a very nice performance of loop based music.

This was followed by the Foo Fighters killing it with a performance of their song Rope. It was a high energy, rocking performance. They were joined by Deadmau5 who brought the techno. It was an interesting mix.

Nicki Minaj went all wack with a priest. Watch it on YouTube if you’re interested.

The Grammy for Record of the Year went to Adele for Rolling In The Deep. It was well deserved.

The Grammy for Album of the Year went to Adele for her album 21. Again it was well deserved and it gave Adele a tie for the most Grammies won in a single year at six Grammy awards. It really was Adele’s night and she was very deserving.

The final performance of the evening was by the legendary Sir Paul McCartney. Paul performed the final medley from Abby Road consisting of Golden Slumbers, Carry That Weight and The End. Paul’s voice is getting a bit ragged with age but he still has the ability to sing his songs. He can still scream out the high parts. Watching him trade licks with all those great guitarists at the end of the show was awesome! I was impressed that Bruce Springsteen took a couple of lead solo’s during the guitar solo’s.

The show was about 2 hours too long. I enjoyed most of the performances but I just can’t sit and watch a show for that long. I really don’t think I’m going to watch the Grammies next year just because it’s too darn long.
[phpbay]2012 Grammy Awards, 6[/phpbay]

The commercials were pretty lame on the way to halftime and the first half of the game was less than inspirational. It was up to Madonna to blow the roof off of Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis with her live performance. The vital statistics for the halftime show are [...]

The commercials were pretty lame on the way to halftime and the first half of the game was less than inspirational. It was up to Madonna to blow the roof off of Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis with her live performance. The vital statistics for the halftime show are 8 minutes to set the show up, 12 minutes to blow the world’s minds and 7 minutes to take the show down. Madonna was quoted as saying “That’s a lot of pressure.” So how did the 53-year old Queen Of Pop do in her Super Bowl halftime performance?

In recent years the NFL has stuck with the more seasoned performers for their Super Bowl halftime shows. Ever since the infamous Janet Jackson “wardrobe malfunction” which gave the world an eyeful of a healthy breast the NFL has played it pretty safe. Madonna was admittedly a bit riskier performer than Paul McCartney, Prince or even the Black-Eyed Peas as she has been known to stir up controversy in the past.

Madonna took the field on a golden chair pulled by a couple dozen young gladiator types. She kicked off her show with an excellent rendition of her hit “Vogue”. The stage was an amazing display of lights and video screens.

The song segued perfectly into Madonna’s song “Music”. The dancers were amazing on this number with one of the guys doing some weird trick with his leg that was pretty eye-popping. Another acrobat bounced on a tight wire and it was really a nice effect. The dancers were really great on this number. The song also featured LMFAO integrating their huge hits “Party Rock Anthem” and “Sexy And I Know It” with Madonna’s music.

This was followed by “Give Me All Your Luvin'” which featured Nicki Minaj and M.I.A.. They did a really nice job singing together and the performance was flawless. Suspiciously flawless actually. But the dancing again was really cool. Madonna proved that even at age 53 a girl isn’t too old to pick up the pom-poms and shake them at the Super Bowl. If there was a controversial moment it happened at the end of this performance with M.I.A. flipping a middle finger at the camera. Nothing says “hot” like a bird-flipping pop starlet!

Then drum major Cee Lo Green led his marching band onto the field to perform “Express Yourself” and “Open Your Heart” with Madonna. The band was really rocking with their marching and drum corps accompaniment.

The song segued into “Like A Prayer” which once again featured Cee Lo Green. The song also featured a full choir backing Madonna up on this song. The stage show wasn’t quite as elaborate on this song but that’s okay because it was all about Madonna. Madonna finished this song by stepping onto a platform and disappearing into a cloud of fog. The show closed with the words “World Peace” displayed on the video stage.

I think the show was a huge success for Madonna. Things went flawlessly with only a small stumble by Madonna during her first song. She easily recovered and gave a perfect show. Was she singing live? It didn’t look like it to me. The performance looked lip-synched and the music was pre-recorded. Madonna looked fabulous though and she made several flawless wardrobe changes. The show was mixed very well and it was very visually entertaining.

There were no surprises, no shocking wardrobe malfunctions or even any really controversial moments during the show. It was rock solid entertainment and a good tribute to Madonna’s professionalism. I enjoyed the show although I can’t say it inspired me and it didn’t really blow the roof off of Lucas Oil Stadium. If you missed Madonna’s performance during the Super Bowl, watch it on YouTube. It will feel just as live as if you did see it during the game. Madonna was live at the Super Bowl even if her singing wasn’t.
[phpbay]madonna halftime, 6[/phpbay]

I’m always looking for good pieces of music equipment that will make my life easier playing in my live band. I’ve never been a fan of having to plug a tuner into my signal chain with my guitar. I also get tired of unplugging my guitar and then plugging it into a tuner over and over through a gig. Enter the Snark SN-2 digital clip-on tuner. This convenient tuner solves both of these problems easily.

The Snark SN-2 tuner clips directly onto your electric guitar or bass and senses the vibrations from the strings to give it an accurate reading of your instruments tuning. The Snark SN-2 will also clip onto any acoustic instrument including guitars, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, oboe or anything that vibrates. The Snark SN-2 also has a built-in microphone so you can tune keyboards with it as well. It’s a chromatic tuner with extended frequency range so it will read any note on the scale and tell you whether you are in tune or not.

When using the vibration sensing feature of the Snark SN-2 it is very resistant to external noise. You can easily tune your instrument on a noisy stage. Another really nice feature on the SN-2 is the colorful, brightly lit LED readout. The display makes it very easy to see and read the tuning meter in any lighting condition.

I also love how the display is on a 360° swivel which allows you to point the display in any direction. This makes it very easy to clip the tuner onto any instrument or headstock and point the display in the best direction possible for easy viewing.

Another great feature of the Snark SN-2 is the built-in metronome. The metronome is a tap-tempo metronome which makes it easy to set it to a beat by tapping at the speed you desire. One flaw in this is that you can’t set it to an exact tempo very easily. You’re stuck tapping until you get it close to the tempo that you want.

Overall the Snark SN-2 chromatic tuner is an excellent and accurate tuner. I’ve been impressed with how well it tunes my guitar and I just love the convenience. I leave it clipped to the headstock most of the time while I play. It stays securely in place and is always at arms length ready to help me tune my instrument. It’s a great deal too so pick one up today!
[phpbay]Snark SN-2, 6[/phpbay]